A mixed infection of Lettuce chlorosis virus, papaya ringspot virus, and tomato yellow leaf curl virus-IL detected in a Texas papaya orchard affected by a virus-like disease outbreak

Severe virus-like symptoms consisting of mosaic, distortion, yellowing, and brittleness were observed on papaya plants in a 20-ha orchard in South Texas during the 2014–15 growing season. Incidence of symptomatic plants increased from ∼40 to 100% within 6 months of the outbreak; the most severely affected plants were stunted, and fruit yield and quality were reduced compared with asymptomatic plants. The orchard papaya plant virome was explored using the Illumina NextSeq 500 platform and results were validated by Sanger DNA sequencing of complete viral genomes obtained by PCR amplification. The combined results revealed the presence of Papaya ringspot virus (PRSV; Potyvirus), Lettuce chlorosis virus (LCV; Crinivirus), and Tomato yellow leaf curl virus-IL (TYLCV-IL; Begomovirus). The RT-PCR analyses of leaves from 51 randomly sampled papaya plants indicated the presence of PRSV, LCV, and TYLCV-IL in 100, 39.2, and 15.7% of the samples, respectively. Plants infected with PRSV, in combination with LCV and/or TYLCV-IL, exhibited more severe symptoms compared with plants infected with PRSV alone. Furthermore, successful whitefly-mediated transmission of TYLCV-IL and LCV was accomplished by exposing virus-free papaya seedlings to viruliferous Bemisia tabaci (Genn.) under greenhouse conditions. The results of this study document a new host record for LCV and the first successful whitefly-mediated transmission of TYLCV-IL and LCV to papaya. As a perennial crop, infected papaya serving as an over-seasoning reservoir for TYLCV-IL and LCV, presents a new challenge to viral disease management in papaya orchards.